P.E.T. can help if:

you would like to break the 'parenting cycle' and do things differently from the way you were brought up

you are separated from your partner, and would like to help your children through the process. The skills are particularly useful in helping your children through parental high-conflict situations.

you would like to improve your relationship with your child

you and your partner want to 'parent on the same page'

you are in a step/blended family

About Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.)

Parent Effectiveness Training was devised in 1962 by Dr Thomas Gordon, and has been taught around the world. The course aims to improve family relationships by teaching respectful communication skills. Run over 8 weeks (1x3 hour session per week), the course is highly practical with theory, workbook exercises and (friendly and realistic) role-plays.

For more information on the course and its founding company, please visit www.gordontraining.com. Information on the Australian not-for-profit organisation responsible for overseeing the teaching of P.E.T. can be found on www.etia.org.

"We attended our first PET course in 1997 when our two boys were 3 and 6 years old. We had heard about it through our local Montessori school and thought we needed to learn about 'peaceful parenting!'

With much insistence my husband also committed to coming along and this proved invaluable as we were able to go through this experience together and essentially be on the same page to avoid the good cop/ bad cop scenario. Twenty years later we continue to naturally present a stable, united, supportive and agreeable front for our children (now young adults) to bounce life's ideas off.

Our course was led by the delightful, amazingly calm and insightful Larissa Dann. We took home weekly learned strategies to try out in many different scenarios with our children and were completely amazed at the results, not only our own relationships with the boys but between ourselves at a time when we behaved as stressed, edgy and floundering parents.

These have been life long and life affirming skills learnt. Meaningful, loving relationships between us all that have not only helped mould resilient children but resilient parents too.

Our boys (now aged 22 and 25 years) still joke about how Mum and Dad had to learn how to become parents - and we did!

Only through PET at a critical time in our family life did we learn to survive and then thrive and really enjoy our children.

"Almost on a daily basis am I SO GRATEFUL to have done the PET course. I can talk to my teenager about everything, where I see so many of his friends struggling with their relationships with their parents. It's never too late to do the course!"

K. Mills

"I loved PET training with Larissa - it is gentle, respectful and has had a hugely positive influence on my interactions with my beautiful children who now speak openly about their feelings and share more with me about their days. I was immediately comfortable with all of its principles and everything I learned made sense straight away to me. This was so valuable in a world of competing parenting advice from web sites, friends and relatives. I wish all new parents were able to do this wonderful and life changing training. Larissa is easy to talk to and generous with her time and advice."

About Us

Larissa is passionate about the skills taught in Effectiveness Training. She is an accredited and highly experienced P.E.T. facilitator, with over 1000 parents completing the course with her. She continually updates her course with new examples and relevant material from the latest research. Larissa's writing has been published in Huffington Post Australia, Early Childhood Australia's blog 'The Spoke'; Her Canberra, Gordon Training International blog, and Generation Next blog.